Improvement in fire-escapes



A. w. CROCKET'VI.

FIRE-ESCAPES.-

Patented July 4, 18776.

INVENTOII ATTORNEYS.

= NITED 'rus ARTHUR w. GBOGKETT, on new YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FlRE-ESCAPES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l79,525, dated July 4, 1876; applicationfiled June 12, 1876.

To all whom it may concern 7 furniture. To the bars A B, at their points Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. OROOKETT,

of intersection, are secured, by stirrups or of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Fire-Escape, of which the followin g is a specification:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved fire-escape. Fig. 2 is a front View of the same, the upper part being broken away. Fig. 3 is a top view of the upper part of the same. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to furnish an improved fire-escape which shall be so constructed that it may be let down from a window to enable men, women, and children to readily and safely escape from a building should the usual passages be rendered impassable by fire, and which may be readily packed in a small compass, and conveniently carried from place to place.

The invention consists in the combination of the bars, the ropes, the rope ladder, the chute, and the canvas guard with each other, and in the combination of the cords with the closed lower end of the chute, the sliding round, the loose round, and the stationary round of the lower part of the ladder, as hereinafter fully described.

A is an iron bar, bent in an arc of about three-quarters of a circle, and having eyes formed in its ends, through which is passed a straight bar, B, also having eyes formed in its ends. Upon the bow of the bar A is formed, or to it is attached, the ends of a bar, 0, the arms and middle part of which are curved inward, as shown in Fig. 2, to adapt it to serve as a rest or brace to the device, To the arms of the bar 0 are attachedrthe ends of two ropes, D, and to the eyes of the bar B are attached the ends of two other ropes, E. The other ends of the ropes D E are attached to eyes formed in the ends of the iron bar F. In the center of the bar F is formed an eye, in which is secured the end of a rope, G, the other end of which is designed to be attached to a hook or other support within the room where the escape is to be used, or attached to a table or bedstead, or other heavyarticle of other means, the ends of two ropes, H, to which are attached, at suitable distances apart, wooden bars or rounds I, to form a rope ladder. The ropes H are extended beyond the lower round I so far that they may reach across the street and be attached to a lamp-post or other support, to hold the lower end of the device steady while it is being used. To the ropes H are attached the side edges of the semi-tubular strip J, of canvas or other suitable material, to form a passage or chute of such a size that men and women may pass down through it by means of the ladder H l, or may slide down through it by extending their elbows against the sides of the semi-tube J, to produce sufficient friction to enable them to control 'the rapidity of their descent. The lower end of the bag or chute J is inclosed upon the forward side, and its lower edge is attached to the lower round I, which round slides upon the ropes H up to the second round I. The upper part of the front of the chute is loose, and its upper edge is attached to the third round I, which is entirely separate from the ropesH. To the ends of the loose round I are attached the ends of two cords, K, which pass through eyes attached to the fourth round I, whence they pass down, and are attached to the ends of the lowest or sliding round I, so that the downward movement of the loose round I, as a person presses upon it in passing out of the chute, may draw up the lowest round I and the lower end of the said chute.

The lower part of the front of the chute J may be made of elastic cloth, or may have an elastic attached to it, to draw up the lower end of the chute, and to resist the shock of a person sliding down the chute, so that he may not strike the lower end of the chute with a thud. The four lower rounds of the ladder may be arranged at a little greater distance apart than the others.

To the bar A the ropes E. and the bar F are attached the edges of a sheet of canvas, L, to guard against a person falling through said space when passing to or from the chute.

In using the escape, the rope G is secured, as hereinbefore described, and the bars A G,

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of the bars A B O F, the ropes D E G, the rope ladder H I, the chute J, and the canvas L with each other, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The combination of the cords K with the closed lower end of the chute J, the sliding round, the loose round, and the stationary round of thc'lower part of the ladder H I, sub stantially as herein shown and described.

ARTHUR W. OROOKETT.

Witnesses:

JAMES T. GRAHAM, '1. B. MOSHER. 

